well here goes...

i cracked the housing(not sure the technical name) that connects to the differential on the right side with about 6 bolts. here is my idea to fix the problem...

i have 342 gears and that front end is very expensive and hard to find. now a 373 assembly is about 600 bones cheaper and i can get one saturday. the housing is the same from the exterior so i know that will work but. can i pull that housing with guts as is off an existing 373 and bolt it up to my 342???

thank you in advance and please feel free to ask more questions.

 

You will have to put 373 gears in the back to. It would probably be cheaper to put the 342 gears in it so you don't have to change the rear end gear ratio out to.

 

if i was replacing the diff yes. but i would just be replacing the axle housing that bolts to the diff. do the gears in the diff make a difference when talking about that housing?

 

The housing should work as long as you put your existing diff. parts in it.

 

Are you buying the diff at a junk yard? If so, that is a lot of money!
I have rebuilt my front end 3 times, I keep braking axle shafts, I go to the junk yard and pay $150. for the whole assembly.
You should be able to swap the housing as long as it's the same size, 7.25 / 8.25 or 9.25 You will also need to adjust the preload on the carrier bearings.